In many manufacturing, warehousing, material handling and other industrial applications it is necessary to identify pallets, workpieces, products, packages or other items as they pass one or more specific locations. Several systems utilizing photoelectric, magnetic or switch sensors and labels having reflective, magnetic or tripping indicia thereon have been previously developed. The accuracy and reliability with which these prior systems read and identify labels is usually dependent on label position, speed, direction of travel and reversal of direction of travel past the sensors, and usually requires that the sensors be mounted on a specific side of the path of travel of the labels.